Video exposes bullying at Infantry School

The military police has opened an inquiry into bullying after the emergence of a video showing hooded army recruits being forced to assume humiliating positions.

In one section of the video, filmed last year by a soldier at the School of Infantry in Catterick, North Yorkshire, young soldiers wearing hoods are seen holding their hands above their heads and with their faces pressed against a wall.

In another part of the film, a soldier pushes his boot into a recruit’s neck. Other sections show hooded recruits being forced into distasteful positions. In one, a soldier is forced to sit on a colleague’s face.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The MoD takes allegations extremely seriously and wants to get to the truth.

“There is an ongoing investigation by the Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch into these allegations of abuse.”